Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)

The UN has formally launched 2015 as the International Year of Soils. Much of IIED's work involves soils, including our work on agroecology, food and agriculture, biodiversity, adaptation to climate change, and drylands

See how IIED's work during the International Year of Family Farming helped to raise the profile of family and smallholder farming and its contribution to eradicating hunger, reducing rural poverty and more

Improving the participation of rural people has been in vogue for years, often with limited success. Here's one scheme that lives up to the hype by involving forest and farm producers on their own terms

To restore forests and get out of poverty, rural communities need the knowledge and connections to build flourishing enterprises. Forest landscapes are among the most isolated and marginalised areas in the world, where land, food and energy security and income generation are pressing concerns. Achieving sustainable development in the forest landscape while addressing those immediate needs is a complex challenge that requires joined-up efforts

How and under what conditions can decentralised governance, capacity building and participation by farmers promote food systems that adapt to changing conditions and climates and maintain agricultural biodiversity?

The Food and Agriculture Organization's 2012 World Food Day focuses on co-operatives.This time around co-operatives need to be what the small-scale farmers actually want. Sometimes that means something quite informal.

Following the 2008 global food price hikes and riots, national governments and transnational corporations are increasingly interested in investing in large-scale African agricultural projects. While these land acquisitions gather pace, 925 million people remain undernourished worldwide, with 239 million living in sub-Saharan Africa. In this new context, the question is not only how sustainable large-scale industrial agriculture is, but also what model of food production and farming is most effective in addressing the question of hunger – and for whom.

Who had heard of G3 eighteen months ago? Nobody, because it didn’t exist.Yet an alliance known as The Three Rights Holders Group has had a strong presence at COP 16 in Cancun, manning an information booth and participating in various panels.The group’s message was a simple one, advocating for sustainable forest management and locally controlled forestry as a vital component in any realistic strategy going forward to address climate change mitigation and adaptation.So who is this group and where has it come from?